Lvn Vs. Medical Assistant Help please

Junebugfairy · May 3, 2009

nurses make more money than medical assistants. ma are not licensed, but nurses are..

nurses have far more opportunities.

NY-Mom · May 4, 2009

Hello, I think u should go for the lpn route, lpn's make more money and there is more room for growth as an lpn..goodluck in your decision..

DaniLPN2RN · May 4, 2009

There are far more opportunities for nurses; however, this is a personal choice. Do you want to be a nurse? Or do you just want to be in the medical area without as much patient care? It really does depend on what you want. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? As an LPN you have the opportunity to get your RN down the road, which will open even more doors for you.

Good luck with your decision. Let us know what you decide.

AHinch1988 · May 4, 2009

If you want to be a nurse, you should take the LVN route instead of the MA route. I'm starting school in July for LVN, but I decided to do an MA program at a vocational school...in my opinion, it is not a good program for you if you want to be a nurse unless you just want experience in the medical field. MA programs only teach you stuff that you need to know to work in a doctors office and my MA school requires a four week externship at the end of the program. If you take MA then LVN, it would probably be a waste of time (it was for me) because you will learn everything from MA in LVN, plus MORE, and that includes nursing skills. In MA, you are limited to working in only doctors offices and maybe even clinics, and in LVN, you learn more, do clinicals every week once they start (more experience than externships provide) and you can work in hospitals, doctors offices, wherever, lol. Personally, I think you would be happier taking the LVN route instead of MA, then LVN. If I would have known that MA wasn't required for LVN, I would have gone straight to LVN. But now I have to wait until I'm done with classes, do my four week externship, and I should be finished by June 15th, lol. Make the choice that is right for you. :up:

sunray12 · May 5, 2009

Go with the LVN. LVN/LPN is a professional license that will take you as far as you want to go. If you use it as a stepping stone to the RN there are even more opportunities. I don't think the same can be said for MA.

njitalgirl · May 6, 2009

there are far more opportunities for nurses; however, this is a personal choice. do you want to be a nurse? or do you just want to be in the medical area without as much patient care? it really does depend on what you want. where do you see yourself in 5 years? as an lpn you have the opportunity to get your rn down the road, which will open even more doors for you.
good luck with your decision. let us know what you decide.

this was exactly what i was going to say. good luck :-)

futuremombabynurse · May 6, 2009

Answer this question: Would you rather file charts, answer phones, and fight with insurance companies all day, or see between 15-50 patients a day in 2-3 minute intervals doing repetative vitals and lab tests all day?

Okay, now of the one you chose above, would you rather do that or actually work with patients (albeit there is still some repetativeness in the normal duties), see more things, do more things, and get paid what you're worth, and choose where you want to work instead of being confined to a doctor's office?

I'd go with LVN.

MattiesMama · May 7, 2009

Honestly it depends...is nursing something you are passionate about, is it something that you can picture yourself doing for the rest of your life? LPN's do make more money, but they also have a lot more responsibility and an LPN program requires a bigger time-commitment. If you aren't sure if this is the right field for you and you just want to get some kind of job training, I would take the MA course...or better yet, go for your CNA so you can actually be in the field, doing the hands on stuff and get a better feel for it before you make the commitment to nursing school!

LpAngel81 · May 11, 2009

take it from me I did the MA route (back on 04) before I started LPN school (started sept 08 will be done in July 09) and if I could turn back the clock I wish that I would have just done the LPN route to begin with I would probably be an RN by now. Trust me the MA program is what 8 months maybe a yr at the most, My LPN progtam is the same amount of time (11 months) How long is the LPN program you were accepted to? if its longer than a yr or 18 months and does nto give you a degree see if you can get into a vocational or technical program they are usually chaper, have more clinical time and are shorter than most college LPn programs, hope this helps good luck

LGte3548 · May 11, 2009

Well you need to follow your heart. You need to remember that its really hard to get in to a nursing program. If a college is offering it to you grab the opportunity because there are more opportunities regarding nursing.

DiabeticGirl18 · May 22, 2009

hey thanks for everyones help.. i talked to one of the teachers at my ma school and he said i should go for lvn if thats something i want.. itd be better